PrawnPDF Bookworm Templates: Fast Layouts for Novels and ManualsCreating professional-looking novels and manuals with Ruby can be fast and repeatable when you use PrawnPDF together with Bookworm-style templates. This article covers why templates help, key page-layout choices for fiction and technical manuals, step-by-step implementation guidance, reusable template components, accessibility and printing considerations, and practical examples you can adapt.
Why use templates with PrawnPDF?
Templates save time and ensure consistency. Instead of redefining margins, headers, footers, chapter starts, and typographic rules for each document, a template encapsulates those decisions so authors and technical writers can focus on content. With PrawnPDF (a pure-Ruby PDF generation library) you get programmatic control over layout, making it easy to:
- Automate pagination and chapter breaks.
- Apply consistent typography and spacing.
- Generate variants (e.g., single-sided vs. duplex, novel vs. manual) from the same source.
- Embed assets (fonts, images, SVGs) reliably.
Key layout choices: novels vs. manuals
Although both are primarily multi-page text documents, their needs differ:
-
Novels
- Focus: reading comfort and immersion.
- Typical design: generous inner margins for binding, modest outer margins, simple headers or no headers, page numbers in footer, chapter openers on new recto pages.
- Typography: serif body font (e.g., Garamond, Caslon), larger leading (line-height), hyphenation, orphan/widow control.
- Ornamentation: drop caps, scene-break symbols, minimal running heads.
-
Manuals
- Focus: scanability, information hierarchy, and reference.
- Typical design: narrower inner margins, clear headers with section titles, numbered headings, sidebars, callouts, tables, and consistent code formatting.
- Typography: sans-serif for UI labels, monospace for code, tighter leading for dense pages.
- Navigation: table of contents, numbered figures/tables, cross-references.
Core template components
A robust template should expose configurable components:
- Page geometry (paper size, margins, binding offset)
- Typeface options (regular, bold, italic, monospace)
- Baseline grid or leading
- Header/footer builders
- Chapter opener layout (title style, starting on recto)
- Paragraph style system (indentation, first-line indent, spacing)
- Elements for manual: callouts, tables, code blocks, numbered steps
- Assets loader for fonts, logos, and decorative flourishes
- Export variants (PDF/X, print-optimized, digital optimized)
Implementation approach with PrawnPDF
Below is a practical pattern to structure templates. Keep behavior modular: a Template class configures defaults; a Renderer class applies them while laying out content.
Example code skeleton (Ruby + Prawn):
# template.rb require 'prawn' require 'prawn/measurement_extensions' class BookTemplate attr_reader :config def initialize(config = {}) @config = { page_size: 'A5', layout: :portrait, margin: 36, # pts gutter: 18, # binding offset font_family: 'Times-Roman', body_size: 11, heading_size: 16, footer_size: 9 }.merge(config) end def create(filename) Prawn::Document.generate(filename, page_size: config[:page_size], page_layout: config[:layout], margin: config[:margin]) do |pdf| pdf.font_families.update("Main" => { normal: config[:font_family] }) pdf.font("Main") yield Renderer.new(pdf, config) if block_given? end end end # renderer.rb class Renderer def initialize(pdf, config) @pdf = pdf @config = config end def chapter(title) # start on recto (odd) page if (@pdf.page_number % 2).zero? @pdf.start_new_page end header title @pdf.move_down 20 @pdf.text title, size: @config[:heading_size], style: :bold @pdf.move_down 12 end def paragraph(text) @pdf.text text, size: @config[:body_size], leading: 4, indent_paragraphs: 20 end def footer # simple centered page number @pdf.number_pages "<page>", { at: [@pdf.bounds.right / 2, 0], align: :center, size: @config[:footer_size] } end private def header(title = nil) # optional running head: chapter title on recto, author on verso # Implement as needed end end This pattern separates responsibilities: the template holds configuration and the renderer knows how to draw document pieces. Expand Renderer with methods for tables, code blocks, sidebars, figure captions, and ToC entries.
Typography and line-breaking
- Use a readable base size: 10–12 pt for body text; increase for older readership.
- Control line length: aim for 60–75 characters per line in novels; manuals can be wider if they include code or tables.
- Prawn has limited hyphenation support. For better hyphenation and advanced typesetting consider pre-processing text with tools like TeX or using libraries that provide hyphenation dictionaries, then render with Prawn.
- For drop caps, render the first letter as a large separate text box and flow the paragraph around it.
Table of contents and pagination
- Build a lightweight ToC by collecting chapter/section titles during rendering and write the ToC pages after content generation (or generate the whole document in-memory then output).
- Use Prawn’s number_pages and go_to_page to place page numbers cleanly.
- For cross-references, record page numbers of anchors and replace placeholders in a second pass.
Handling images, figures, and tables
- Embed high-resolution images (300 DPI for print); scale to fit content box.
- Use consistent figure captions and numbering—provide helper methods that draw the image and caption and register the figure in a registry for lists of figures.
- For tables, Prawn’s table API is flexible; set column widths and cell styles in the template.
Accessibility & print considerations
- Ensure sufficient contrast for body text and captions.
- Embed fonts where licensing allows—this improves PDF portability.
- Choose paper size and include crop/bleed marks if the document will go to professional printing.
- For screen PDFs, consider larger fonts, clickable ToC entries (Prawn supports annotations/links), and tagged PDFs where possible (Prawn’s native tagged PDF support is limited — consider a post-processing step for full tagging).
Reusable template variants
Provide configuration presets:
- Novel (A5, wide gutters, serif font, chapter recto starts, drop caps enabled)
- Manual (A4, tighter gutters, sans-serif body or mixed, numbered headings, sidebars enabled)
- Compact Print (2-up printing, condensed leading)
- Digital (single-sided, increased font sizes, interactive TOC)
Switching between presets should be a single argument to the Template initializer.
Example: Building a simple novel template
Steps:
- Define page geometry and fonts.
- Implement chapter opener with large title and optional ornament.
- Create paragraph style with first-line indent and no extra spacing between paragraphs.
- Implement page-number footer centered.
- Provide utility to start new chapter on recto.
Adapt the Renderer skeleton above to include ornament drawing and a scene-break glyph.
Testing and iteration
- Print a physical proof early (paper and margins reveal issues invisible on-screen).
- Check widows/orphans; automate detection where possible by measuring text height and shifting lines or adjusting breaks.
- Run usability checks for manuals: confirm code blocks, tables, and images don’t overflow pages.
When to use Prawn vs. other tools
Use PrawnPDF when:
- You need programmatic PDF generation from Ruby.
- You require customized, repeatable templates driven by code.
- You prefer a Ruby-only stack without LaTeX.
Consider LaTeX or professional DTP when:
- You need advanced typesetting (microtypography, sophisticated hyphenation, ligatures) out of the box.
- You require full tagged-PDF accessibility.
Conclusion
PrawnPDF combined with Bookworm-style templates gives you a flexible, code-managed way to produce novels and manuals that are consistent, reusable, and tailored to your print/digital needs. Start with a clear template API (geometry, typography, chapter behavior, building blocks), iterate with physical proofs, and expose presets for common variants (novel/manual/digital). The Renderer/Template pattern shown here keeps layout logic clean and reusable.
Leave a Reply